In machine tools of the type known to the state of the art, workpieces are processed which can be mounted in different ways. Known are, in particular, those devices in which the workpiece is screwed by means of spring chucks against a machine bed and is released again by loosening the screw accordingly. In addition, clamping devices are known, which are screwed to the work table of the machine and are constructed or arranged specifically for a certain workpiece. When changing the workpiece or the workpiece type, the clamping device must be dismantled and set up again each time and the zero point must again be determined.
Furthermore, the need is known for arranging and fixing several workpieces ideally simultaneously in the processing area of a machine tool or for removing them from there. For this purpose, the workpieces can be arranged fixed together on a carrier, a type of pallet or the like, in order to then fix the carrier as a whole in the processing area of the machine tools. After completion of processing, the carrier is loosened and removed again as a whole from the fixing device.
Generally known are clamping devices in which a fixing element is used indirectly or directly as a carrier for a workpiece that can be locked in a receptacle. Locking or loosening is thus equivalent to the fixing or releasing of the fixing element. These clamping devices, however, are complicated in construction and involved in operation.
The problem of the invention is to offer a clamping device, especially for machine tools, that has a simple construction for setup and is simple to operate.